Teen took dad’s gun to drug deal in ‘a string of very bad choices,’ Woodland PD says
Officers arrested a teenage boy Sunday night after he took his father’s loaded gun to buy drugs at a Woodland park, was held at gunpoint by drug dealers, chased after them, crashed into another vehicle during the chase and ran from the site of the wreck, police said.
In a Facebook post on Monday describing the events that led to the 17-year-old boy’s arrest, Woodland Police Department officials said the teen made “a string of very bad choices,” and they reminded residents about the importance of securing guns at home.
The boy went to the park to buy drugs from people he did not know, and he decided to bring his father’s loaded 9 mm handgun, according to police. At the park, the people selling the drugs pointed a gun at the teen, but those suspects later left after they were startled by a passerby.
Officials said the teen then got in his vehicle and chased the drug dealers through the outskirts of Woodland. It was during that chase that the juvenile collided with another vehicle not associated with the botched drug deal. The boy left the site of the wreck before authorities arrived, according to police.
The teen later returned and was arrested after police found the loaded gun in his vehicle. Police said the teen was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run, along with gun charges. He was booked at the Yolo County Juvenile Hall.
“Aside from the obvious lessons learned during this unfortunate incident, it is important to also focus on responsible gun ownership,” police officials wrote in the Facebook post. “Please do everything you can to keep your legal firearms out of the hands of individuals who can not legally possess them and are clearly not responsible enough to make good decisions just yet.”
